GM has its best sales month in China ever

9:33 AM, February 5, 2013

A Chinese salesman speaks on his mobile outside a Buick dealership, one of General Motors' brands, in Beijing, China, on June 1, 2009. The popularity of Buicks in China contributed to GM's January sales increase. / ELIZABETH DALZIEL/AP

General Motors recorded a strong 26% sales increase in China in January, compared to the same month in 2012, marking its best month ever in the country.

GM, which builds and sells vehicles in China with 12 joint ventures, sold 310,765 vehicles in the world’s largest market last month. That’s 16% higher than the automaker’s previous single-month high of 268,035 vehicles in January 2011.

The company’s Shanghai GM unit sold 154,220 vehicles, a 24.3% increase. The Buick brand, which sells six times as many vehicles in China as it does in the U.S., recorded sales of 86,509 units, up 21.7%. That included 7,881 sales of the Encore compact crossover, which hit China showrooms a few weeks before U.S. dealerships.

GM, which has more than 55,000 employees in China, reported a 22% increase in Chevrolet sales to 66,141 units.